New October 2005

Click here to download "State Party Examination of Australia's Second and Third Periodic Reports - Session 40 of the Committee on the Rights of the Child"

June2005

from left to right - Thao Nguyen and Louise Pounder

from left to right - Louise Pounder, other NGO reps and Jason's arm

June 2004

On Thursday 3 June 2004, YAPA and YJC hosted the Sydney workshop in preparation of the NGO Alternative Report.
Click here for a Powerpoint presentation given at the workshop.

Press Release: March 2004

The Australian Government provided a report to the United Nations Committee on the Rights of the Child in September 2003. The requirement to produce a report is the main way that the United Nations (UN) monitors whether a country is complying with the Convention on the Rights of the Child (CROC). The Federal Government's report was due in January 2003. Non-Government Organisations (NGOs) in a country also provide a report, often called a Shadow, or Supplementary, Report. This ensures that the UN Committee hears the whole story.

The National Children and Youth Law Centre (NCYLC) is co-ordinating this shadow report to the UN Committee and wants to make sure all NGOs across Australia have input into the Report. A Consultation Paper and its corresponding Background Briefing has been prepared and is currently available, in both electronic and paper form. The aim is to get this to all peak youth bodies, youth advocates, community legal centres, Student Representative Councils, and other youth services around Australia. We want people to respond to the issues in the Consultation Paper by the end of May 2004.

Most importantly, we need to have the voice of children and youth heard through this Report. The NCYLC urges youth groups across Australia to undertake consultations to provide an avenue for youth to respond. This is a chance for your youth organisation and its clientele to be heard internationally.

CROC was signed and ratified by Australia in December 1990. As a signatory, Australia agreed to give children the same human rights as adults as well as other special rights due to their age. Aspects covered under CROC include protection, health, enjoyment of culture and education. While Australia has implemented many aspects of CROC successfully, the Government can still do much more. For example, the rights of child asylum seekers in detention are completely ignored, and both State and private education systems are not complying with Australia's obligations. Why are Indigenous youth over-represented in the juvenile justice system? Is this a human rights issue? The Consultation Paper raises these and many more questions.

Through casework, advocacy, campaigning and law reform strategies, the National Children's and Youth Law Centre monitors the Federal, State and Territories' governments' obligations under CROC. We see that CROC has the potential to give children and young people the best opportunity to further their rights and interests.

The NCYLC offers advice to people nationally by telephone, but key to the Centre's provision of information to a youth audience about the law is our website www.lawstuff.org.au. This award-winning site attracts around 10,000 visitors a year and incorporates an interactive facility, LawMail. This enables young people to contact us by email, independently and confidentially, from anywhere across Australia. Last year, we answered nearly 1,000 enquiries from children throughout the country but especially in rural and remote areas.

The CROC Consultation Paper and its Background Briefing is now available, and we urge you to read it and respond. Answer the questions we ask, or just tell us your story.

Once your feedback has been gathered, a Draft Report will be written, and the NGO Advisory Group will give some final input before it is lodged with the United Nations. The NCYLC will also produce a Community Report that will provide feedback to the community about the NGO Report and process.

Help us put together this NGO Report on CROC in Australia. We want to hear from you and your organisation in response to our Consultation Paper. If you would like to consult with children or youth, please let us know and we will send you out a resource kit to ask them directly.

Thank you.